The U.S. hosts many of the best educational and academic institutions on Earth, which have been instrumental in securing the country's status as a 21st-century global superpower. These schools draw students, teachers and researchers from around the world to help perpetuate the very academic superiority that appealed to them in the first place. But now, as the White House places various universities and research institutions in its ideological crosshairs, the nation's reputation for academic excellence is in jeopardy. 

'Fire sale on American academics'
"We are witnessing a new brain drain," said Eric Berton, the president of France's Aix Marseille University in early March, after announcing a new "safe space for science" to help American researchers continue their work at his school. So far, the project has attracted more than 50 American researchers who have applied to bring their expertise overseas, said a university spokesperson. Universities worldwide have "reported seeing an uptick in applications from U.S.-based researchers" wary of the "increasingly uncertain climate" of the Trump administration, said Science.org. 

There's a "fire sale on American academics right now," said Carl Bergstrom, a biology professor at the University of Washington, at health and biomedical publication STAT. Anxiety over the Trump administration's moves is "so deep" that it could ultimately "undermine the country's enduring position as the world leader in biomedicine," said STAT. 

'New academic pathways'
Several countries are eyeing the situation in the U.S. as an opportunity for their own academic and research institutions. Canadian universities can be an "entryway for a flood of talent" fleeing American academia, said The Hill Times. China has also begun welcoming "Ph.D. refugees" from the U.S. by offering "new academic pathways," said the South China Morning Post.

"Historically," brain drain migration has benefitted the U.S., said Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor of the history of education at the University of Pennsylvania, to the Canadian Broadcast Corporation. There's now a "real danger" that, as a result of the Trump administration's policies, the drain is "going to start going in the opposite direction."

Pressure is building on the Serbian government after reports that it used an illegal sonic weapon on protesters in Belgrade. Authorities have denied the claims, but video footage of the incident has intensified "mounting speculation" about the dispersal tactics used by security forces. Half a million people have signed a petition demanding an independent investigation.

What happened at the protest? 
Tens of thousands were holding a peaceful anti-corruption rally on March 15 when "we heard something we could not see, like a sound rolling toward us," said protester Ivana Ilic Sunderic. It was "very unusual and very frightening, like a sound from hell," she said to Sky News. 

The video, taken by The Associated Press, appears to show thousands of protesters "suddenly start running away in panic" as a "swooshing sound" is heard. Campaigners say this is the moment when the protesters were "targeted" with a "sound cannon." 

Sonic weapons, illegal in Serbia, send out sound waves that can cause pain, disorientation, eardrum rupture and even permanent hearing damage. Protesters said they have been suffering from "lingering headaches, nausea and ringing in the ears" since the rally, said The Guardian.

What do authorities say? 
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said it was a "wicked lie" that a sonic weapon had been used, but a photo taken at the rally appears to show a "police vehicle with a large piece of equipment fixed to the bonnet," said The Guardian. When shown the photo, officials admitted possessing a sonic weapon but "insisted it was not used," said The Independent. Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said the vehicle housed nothing more than "loudspeakers" that "serve to emit warnings to the crowds."

What do experts say? 
The photo shows "what appears to be an LRAD 450XL" sonic weapon, said The Independent, although Genasys, the U.S. manufacturer, said neither the photo nor the video proves that an LRAD was used. But Predrag Petrovic, of the Belgrade Center for Security Policy, said there was a "huge probability" that "some version of a sonic cannon" was used. "I have never seen a stampede happen in a second and along an almost straight line," he said to the outlet.

What might happen next? 
The petition, organized by the Serbian opposition Move-Change movement, demands an investigation by the U.N. and the Council of Europe. Several rights organizations have also "taken the issue to the European Court of Human Rights," said the AP. Serbia has until the end of the month to respond.